Black Hearted Mage

The northern maid, looking only in her teens, walked briskly over to bring tea, snacks, and three large plates of fragrant dried meat. The plump puppy could no longer contain his saliva, which flowed like a flood. His large scarlet tongue was busy like a clockwork machine, greedily licking the saliva from the corners of his mouth.

"Emily, try these dried meats first and then decide which one to buy!" Caesars said softly.

Emily obediently stretched out her jade-white hand, grabbed a piece of jerky, and put it into her mouth without hesitation. She was holding the jerky made from wild beef, which was famous for its unique flavor and chewy texture.

The vast expanse of the Northland Steppes seems endless. Fuel resources are relatively scarce on this vast grassland, making dried meat an essential food for Northlanders on long journeys. To ensure its longevity, Northlanders often dry it thoroughly and add a high salt content.

"Well, this dried meat tastes really good, but... it's too hard!" Emily complained with a frown while chewing.

"Haha, this is because the people in the North need to graze frequently, and it is difficult to find enough dry firewood to roast food on the prairie. Therefore, our dried meat is usually dried and hard. However, if you stew the dried meat, it will taste even better! Add some fresh vegetables, and it will be a pot of fragrant stew!" The Northern merchant explained patiently.

"Emily, take your time savoring it. If you can't chew it anymore, give it to Fatty. I'm going to talk to this wealthy Northern merchant about the magic crystal!"

What Caesars truly cared about was the magic crystal. The jerky was merely a trivial matter to him. However, Emily disagreed. She slowly savored the jerky, savoring its unique flavor and texture.

Emily found the lamb jerky quite good; the spices masked the mutton smell, allowing her to fully enjoy the flavor. But when she tried the bison jerky, she encountered some difficulty. It was as hard as rock; she couldn't even bite it, leaving a tooth mark. Ultimately, the hard jerky was sold to the drooling dog.

Meanwhile, Kaesus was negotiating the price of magic crystals with a Northern merchant. Their discussion went smoothly because Kaesus was buying a large enough quantity, and the price offered by the Northern Merchants was 20% lower than the black market price. This was undoubtedly a very good deal.

However, there was a deeper reason behind this deal. The Magic Guild had originally wanted to purchase the Northerners' magic crystals at a very low price, but they were unwilling to sell their storage rings at the same low price. This conflict prevented the two parties from reaching a consensus, and the grand deal ultimately fell through.

The Northerners did not have many magic crystals. After this transaction, they had used up two million gold coins and had no extra magic crystals to exchange for storage rings.

"Another batch of magic crystals will be delivered in half a month. Please keep the storage ring for us and don't sell it!" said the northern merchant pleadingly.

"Okay, then I'll come back in half a month. Emily, which kind of jerky do you want to buy?" Caesars asked Emily.

"Mutton and wild beef. Fatty likes to eat wild beef. He has good teeth!"

"We need 30,000 kilograms of mutton and beef each, and 50,000 kilograms of bison jerky!" After hearing Emily's suggestion, Kaisas said to the northerners.

The Northman was a generous man, and he immediately quoted a shockingly low price. Caesars didn't even bother to bargain, but without a word, he took out the gold coins. Seeing this, the Northman's face suddenly became happy, and he quickly directed several burly Northmen to carry out bags of heavy dried meat from the back of the shop.

Emily began to carefully count the amount of dried meat, while Caesars was responsible for putting it away. However, because the fat dog was so greedy, he couldn't be given all the dried meat at once. He could only be given one or two bags at a time, otherwise he would definitely lose control of his mouth and eat all the dried meat.

"Emily, okay, let's go to the Magic Academy and sell these things!" After putting away the dried meat, Caesars turned to Emily and said.

However, just as they were about to leave, the Northern merchant suddenly stopped Caesars and asked anxiously, "Sir, besides the storage ring, do you have anything else to sell?"

Kaisas thought for a moment and replied, "Well, I still have some composite leather armor, a few magic steel short swords, and a few staffs that I want to get rid of."

The Northern merchant was immediately intrigued. He scratched his head and said with some embarrassment, "This... We Northerners don't have any magicians. We only have a handful of shamans. These staves are useless to us. Show us the leather armor and dagger. Our craftsmanship isn't as refined as the Terrans'!"

"You can't wear my leather armor. It's worn by assassins, and the dagger is also an assassin's weapon. Northerners are big and strong, and leather armor and weapons are not suitable for you!"

As Caesars spoke, he took out leather armor and a dagger. The Northern merchant took them and examined them carefully. He said, "Leather armor is indeed not suitable for Northerners, but the daggers are of better quality than ours. We Northerners all have a dagger to cut meat when we eat. I've ordered these magic steel daggers. They are sharper than the daggers I use!"

"I have two or three hundred magic steel short swords!"

"Our tribe has a large population!"

In just a few words, the magic steel dagger was ordered by a big businessman from the North. It has to be said that the people of the North are straightforward and it is very straightforward to negotiate business with them.

All Kaesas wanted now was the magic crystals. He didn't care whether the northerners used the high-quality magic steel daggers to slaughter livestock or cut meat on the table.

During the conversation, I learned that this northern merchant was from the Blackrock Tribe and was the second son of the Blackrock Tribe leader. He had voluntarily given up his inheritance rights to the tribe and became a happy and carefree northern merchant.

"Baturu, why do you want to buy salamander leather?"

Even the knowledgeable Kaisas was a bit surprised by the items this northern merchant needed. After all, salamander leather is not something that ordinary people can handle. It requires not only the exquisite skills of a leatherwork master, but also the assistance of alchemical solvents.

However, Batulu showed great interest in salamander leather. He said excitedly: "I want to use it to make a robe. It will not only have high defense, but also keep out the cold and keep warm. The color will also be very beautiful!" He spoke with great joy, as if salamander leather had an irresistible attraction to him.

Kaisas shook his head helplessly, then replied, "I'm sorry, I don't have any salamander leather at the moment, but I do have white crocodile leather. Do you need it?"

When Batulu heard this, his eyes lit up immediately and he quickly said, "Of course! The leather of the white crocodile is waterproof!"

So, Caesars pulled out two pieces of hard leather from his space ring and dropped them on the floor of the shop, making a clanging sound. Baturu immediately squatted on the ground and examined the huge leather carefully. He even clenched his fists and hit the leather hard, as if testing its hardness and quality.

After a while, Batulu exclaimed: "The white crocodile is actually so big!"

"The leather is a little damaged, so let's just consider it three hundred high-level magic crystals!"

Caesar looked at the northern merchant. He wanted to complete the transaction as soon as possible and rush to the Imperial Capital Magic Academy.

Baturu quickly took out the magic crystal and handed it to Caesars without hesitation. The transaction between the two was completed in an instant.

Baturu had already thought of a use for the two huge leather pieces—send them back to the tribe so that the people could make good use of them. He also decided to bring the magic crystal back as soon as possible to ensure the smooth transaction.

Emily followed Caesars out of the Northland Trading Company. The two of them stopped a carriage and headed straight for the Imperial Capital Magic Academy.

As the carriage slowly moved forward, Emily finally couldn't contain her curiosity and asked, "Brother, how did you kill such a big white crocodile?"

Kaisas smiled slightly and answered frankly: "Amelie, actually, I didn't kill the white crocodile. It was Fatty who killed it."

"What?" Emily was so surprised that her mouth couldn't close. "How could a fat dog hunt such a huge white crocodile?"

"Yes," Caesars nodded and continued, "The liver of the white crocodile is especially delicious when fried. When we return to Violet City, let Fatty Dog hunt a few more white crocodiles!"

Emily's eyes widened as she asked in disbelief, "But how did the fat dog do it? How could it possibly kill such a huge white crocodile when it's so small?"

Kaisas patiently explained: "The fat dog's claws are very powerful. It can easily penetrate the hard skull of the white crocodile. This is the secret of its hunting of white crocodiles."

When the puppy heard Caesars' praise for it, it was as excited as a child. It raised its head high, opened its mouth wide, and revealed a row of white teeth, as if showing its joy to its owner.

Seeing this, Caesars smiled and patted the puppy's head, then took out a few pieces of hard dried meat from his pocket. These dried meats exuded an enticing aroma, and for the puppy, this was undoubtedly the most desired reward.

The puppy's eyes lit up immediately. It couldn't wait to stick out its tongue, lick its lips, and then looked at the dried meat in Caesars' hand with longing eyes.

At this moment, Emily, who was standing by, saw this scene and a look of confusion appeared on her face. Caesar noticed Emily's expression and explained to her with a smile, "This fat dog has special magic patterns on its body, which is why it is so smart and strong."

After hearing Caesar's explanation, Emily's doubts gradually disappeared and she nodded to show her understanding.

Then, Emily asked curiously, "Brother, can this fat dog continue to grow?"

Kaisas answered affirmatively: "Of course, the fat dog can grow to the size of a horse at least. Moreover, it is a fire-type monster, and its growth requires eating a large amount of fire crystals."

The mention of fire monsters suddenly reminded Kaisus of the contents of his storage ring. He quickly began searching, and soon found the two eggs. He had forgotten about them: one was a ground dragon egg, and the other was a fire salamander egg.

"I have a fire salamander egg here!"

Suddenly, as if he remembered something, he turned around and cursed at the fat dog, "You damn dog, if I hadn't put away the fire salamander's eggs, I'm afraid you, a greedy guy, would have eaten them long ago!"

"Brother, how do I eat such a big egg?" Emily widened her eyes and looked at the huge red egg in front of her in surprise. She secretly estimated its weight in her heart, and estimated that it weighed more than ten pounds.

"Hmm..." Caesars touched his chin and said after thinking for a moment, "We can eat it in two batches and add some diced bacon and fruits and vegetables to make an omelet. Wow, just thinking about it makes me feel delicious! Let's have this omelet for dinner. I haven't tasted such delicious food in a long time!"

At the word "omelet," the puppy, who had been chewing on the dried meat, suddenly stopped and sniffed the air, as if it had already smelled the alluring aroma of an omelet. Emily, on the other hand, was drooling with anticipation.

The Imperial Capital Magic Academy is located in the inner city. Most of the students here are not magicians, and there is a great demand for leather armor. Therefore, as long as the price is slightly favorable, it is not too difficult to sell these leather armors.

Caesars didn't meet anyone he knew at the academy. Avril had successfully been promoted to a magician and was traveling with her companions.

Caesar's arrival was indeed a bit unfortunate. It was the holiday of the Magic Academy and most students took advantage of this time to travel, so his leather armor business was not very ideal. He only sold five or six sets.

As time was approaching noon, Caesar suddenly had an idea and thought of a person - Duke Solomon.

"Emily, it's almost noon now. How about we go to the Duke's Mansion for a meal today?" Caesar said to Emily beside him with a smile.

"Is it the Grand Duke of the Roland Empire?" Emily asked curiously.

"Haha, it's him, the Duke Solomon who visited our house before! Let's go to his castle to have a meal and admire the magnificent castle by the way!" Caesar explained enthusiastically.

"But... wouldn't that be too abrupt?" Emily said hesitantly.

"Don't worry, Duke Solomon will definitely welcome us. Besides, we are going to set up a stall to sell things in the afternoon. I guess these leather armors may not be easy to sell. After all, assassins are relatively thin, and archers can't wear these leather armors. I actually forgot about this before!" Caesars said, shaking his head helplessly.

After saying that, Caesars led Emily out of the academy. Since it wasn't too far from the Duke of Solomon's Mansion, he planned to walk with Emily and enjoy the scenery along the way.